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Solar wind
speed: 424.4 km/sec
density: 2.8 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C2
1911 UT Sep08
24-hr: C5
0011 UT Sep08
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 08 Sept 14
Sunspot AR2157 and AR2158 have delta-class magnetic fields that harbor energy for X-class solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 154
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 08 Sep 2014

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2014 total: 1 day (<1%)
2013 total: 0 days (0%)
2012 total: 0 days (0%)
2011 total: 2 days (<1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)

Update
08 Sep 2014

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 151 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 08 Sep 2014

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 4.7 nT
Bz: 2.7 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes: 08 Sep 14
Sola wind flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on Sept. 10-11. . Credit: SDO/AIA.

Spaceweather.com posts daily satellite images of noctilucent clouds (NLCs), which hover over Earth's poles at the edge of space. The data come from NASA's AIM spacecraft. The north polar "daisy" pictured below is a composite of near-realtime images from AIM assembled by researchers at the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP).
Noctilucent Clouds
Switch view: Europe, USA, Asia, Polar
Updated at: 09-02-2014 12:55:12
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2014 Sep 08 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
75 %
75 %
CLASS X
30 %
30 %
Geomagnetic Storms:
Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at: 2014 Sep 08 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
25 %
25 %
SEVERE
20 %
20 %
 
Monday, Sep. 8, 2014
What's up in space
 

When is the best time to see auroras? Where is the best place to go? And how do you photograph them? These questions and more are answered in a new book, Northern Lights - a Guide, by Pal Brekke & Fredrik Broms.

 
Northern Lights - a Guide

METEORITE SKEPTICISM: Reports are circulating of a meteorite strike in Nicaragua on Sunday, Sept. 7th. Because the timing coincides with the flyby of asteroid 2014 RC, some reporters have suggested a link. We are skeptical. The crater outside Managua looks more like it was dug by a backhoe than excavated by a high-energy meteoritic explosion. Also, no streak of light corresponding to a meteor was actually observed. Stay tuned for updates on this developing story.

HARVEST MOON: The northernn autumnal equinox is less than two weeks away. That makes tonight's full Moon the Harvest Moon, the full Moon closest to the beginning of Fall. Ruslan Merzlyakov sends this picture of the pumpkin-colored orb from Nykøbing Mors, Denmark:

"It was a very beautiful moonrise!" he says.

The name "Harvest Moon" harkens back to a bygone era. Before the days of electric lights, farmers relied on moonlight to harvest crops which ripened all at once in autumn. They couldn't afford to stop working at sunset, so "harvest moonlight" was essential to their operations. The flow of electricity has made the Moon obsolete as a source of practical illumination, but not as an object of beauty. Step outside tonight at sunset, look east and enjoy the view.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

CHANCE OF FLARES: NOAA forecasters have raised the odds of an X-class solar flare today to 30%. Two sunspots turning toward Earth pose a threat for such eruptions: AR2157 and AR2158. Both are capable of strong geoeffective activity. Solar flare alerts: text, voice

ASTEROID FLIES BY EARTH: On Sunday, Sept. 7th, house-sized asteroid 2014 RC flew past Earth. There was no danger of a collision, but the space rock was close. It sailed just underneath Earth's belt of geeosynchronous satellites and about 40,000 km over New Zealand. Using robotic telescope in Australia, a team of astronomers led by Ernesto Guido photographed 2014 RC zipping through the southern constellation Phoenix at 10 km/s (22,000 mph):

2014 RC came from the asteroid belt just beyond the orbit of Mars. According to NASA, "2014 RC will return to our planet's neighborhood in the future. The asteroid's future motion will be closely monitored, but no future threatening Earth encounters have been identified." [ephemeris] [3D orbit]

MORE ASTEROID NEWS: Now that 2014 RC has passed, another even weirder asteroid is approaching Earth's neighborhood. 2002 CE26 is a binary asteroid consisiting of a primary space rock 3.5 km in diameter and a secondary approximately one-tenth as wide. What's weird is, radar data suggest that the secondary space rock might have a moon of its own. Alberto Quijano Vodniza of the University of Narino Observatory in Colombia photographed the triple system streaking through the constellation Pegasus on Sept. 2nd:

At closest approach on Sept. 9th, 2002 CE26 will be 18.4 million km (0.123 AU) from Earth. That is relatively far away, but because of the asteroid's large size, it is still possible to obtain meaningful data from the flyby. NASA astronomers will be pinging the system using the Goldstone radar in the Mojave desert. The Goldstone team says "we should be able to get coarse-resolution images of the primary. Echoes from the secondary will be weak and on the edge of detectability."

They also encourage experienced amateur astronomers to monitor the flyby: "This object should reach 14th magnitude while at favorable solar elongations, so it should be an excellent target for lightcurves.  Lightcurves might detect the signature of at least one satellite and could help refine the orbital period." [3D orbit] [ephemeris]


Realtime Sprite Photo Gallery


Realtime Comet Photo Gallery


Realtime NLC Photo Gallery

  All Sky Fireball Network

Every night, a network of NASA all-sky cameras scans the skies above the United States for meteoritic fireballs. Automated software maintained by NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office calculates their orbits, velocity, penetration depth in Earth's atmosphere and many other characteristics. Daily results are presented here on Spaceweather.com.

On Sep. 8, 2014, the network reported 6 fireballs.
(6 sporadics)

In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits intersect at a single point--Earth. The orbits are color-coded by velocity, from slow (red) to fast (blue). [Larger image] [movies]

  Near Earth Asteroids
Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are space rocks larger than approximately 100m that can come closer to Earth than 0.05 AU. None of the known PHAs is on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding new ones all the time.
On September 8, 2014 there were potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2014 RJ
Sep 3
7.8 LD
34 m
2014 QC391
Sep 4
2.4 LD
14 m
2014 QT295
Sep 5
6.7 LD
28 m
2014 RC
Sep 7
0.1 LD
19 m
2014 RJ11
Sep 8
3 LD
15 m
2013 RZ53
Sep 9
1.9 LD
3 m
2002 CE26
Sep 9
47.9 LD
1.8 km
2009 RR
Sep 16
2 LD
34 m
2006 GQ2
Sep 19
65.9 LD
1.1 km
2009 FG19
Sep 26
34.6 LD
1.1 km
2014 NE52
Sep 30
61.2 LD
1.1 km
2001 EA16
Oct 7
35.5 LD
1.9 km
2011 TB4
Oct 9
5.8 LD
34 m
2003 UC20
Oct 31
52.4 LD
1.0 km
2004 JN13
Nov 18
52.4 LD
4.1 km
1998 SS49
Nov 18
73.9 LD
3.2 km
Notes: LD means "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. MAG is the visual magnitude of the asteroid on the date of closest approach.
  Essential web links
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
  The official U.S. government space weather bureau
Atmospheric Optics
  The first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena.
Solar Dynamics Observatory
  Researchers call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO is the most advanced solar observatory ever.
STEREO
  3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Heliophysics
  the underlying science of space weather
Space Weather Alerts
   
  more links...
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